Military career
McSally with an A-10 Thunderbolt II
McSally earned her USAF pilot's wings in 1991 after completing Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams Air Force Base east of Phoenix. Following graduation, she was assigned to Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, as a First Assignment Instructor Pilot in the T-37 trainer. McSally went on to Lead-in Fighter Training in 1993.[12]
McSally then completed Replacement Training Unit for the A-10 Thunderbolt II at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base and was assigned to an operational A-10 squadron that deployed to Kuwait in January 1995.[12][13] During this deployment, she flew combat patrol over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq and becoming "the first female U.S. fighter pilot to fly in combat and the first woman to command a fighter squadron."[12][14]
In 1999, McSally deployed to Europe in support of Operation Allied Force. She was selected as one of seven active duty Air Force officers for the Legislative Fellowship Program. She lived in Washington, D.C. working as a national security advisor to Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ).[15]
McSally took command of the 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in July 2004.
She was subsequently deployed to Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2006, McSally's squadron won the David C. Shilling Award, given by the Air Force Association "for the most outstanding contribution in the field of flight